Do Any Of Us Really Change?
by Hypnotoad76
Summary: Future Fic. Annie attends her five year high school reunion with Jeff and Troy. Mostly a Annie story, with a bit of Jeff/Annie
1. Chapter 1

Annie looked at herself in the mirror as she made a couple of final adjustments to her black dress. It was a nice cocktail number that made her look sexy and sophisticated, with just the right amount of cleavage exposed (she had a good pair on her, so why shouldn't she show them off every once in a while.) She smiled at the end result. It was more than just the dress; it was everything. Her hair was shiny with none of its once prevalent frizz. Her complexion was clear without any blemishes or acne. She felt like a woman, instead of the ugly duckling girl she had been in high school.

She glanced over as she heard a soft knocking on her bedroom door. "Come in." She smiled as Jeff walked into her room. "I'm pretty much ready," she said as she put on her earrings.

He returned her smile as he looked at her. "You look gorgeous."

"Thank you. You're looking pretty good yourself." While she thought most guys looked good in a suit, Jeff always seemed to wear one better than anyone she knew. Although if she was honest that applied to pretty much all clothes that he wore. She took hold of his tie and carefully pulled him forward as her lips captured his.

"Careful. Don't start something we can't finish."

"We still have ten minutes before we have to leave."

He grinned as he kissed her, running his hands over her sides as she started removing his suit jacket. Just then, there was a loud knock on her door. Annie and Jeff both groaned as Annie yelled out "What?"

"Abed wants to take pictures before we leave for the reunion! Are you guys ready?" Troy yelled from behind the door.

"Yeah," Jeff groaned. He reluctantly straightened out his suit before they walked out into the living room. Abed waved them over, where he situated the three of them into various positions as he clicked away.

"Okay, that's enough of all three of you. Now let's get a few with just Annie and Jeff, then some with just Annie and Troy, and then we'll move on to individual shots."

"Abed, you know this is a high school reunion right," Jeff said. "You're acting like its prom."

"Troy's the only one here who went to prom, so I'm trying to make up for it."

As Annie stood next to Jeff she whispered to him, "You didn't go to your prom? That doesn't sound like you."

"You mean where I skipped the lame dance and instead spent all night in a hotel room with my date? Yeah, that's not me at all."

Annie gasped in fake indignation over that one. "Maybe we can recreate your prom night after the reunion," she said low enough so only he could hear. He grinned back at her as they both smiled for Abed's picture.

After several more minutes of picture taking the three of them were finally able to leave the apartment. "Are you coming with us Troy?" Annie asked.

"Nah. I told Britta I might stop by later so I'm taking my own car. I'll see you guys there."

As Jeff drove his Lexis to Annie and Troy's old high school he looked over at his girlfriend. "You excited?"

"Yeah. I guess. I mean…"

Jeff grew a bit concerned as he caught her hesitation. "You mind if I ask again why we're going to this thing? You didn't seem to enjoy high school the first time around. I'm just curious why you're going out of your way to see the people who picked on you."

Annie was silent for a moment as she thought about it. "Normally I would never want to go to my high school reunion. I couldn't wait to get out of there. But I decided to go because I'm hoping Heather will be there."

"Was she a friend of yours?"

"She was the only friend I had back then. We met in the beginning of ninth grade and were practically inseparable during those four years. We would eat lunch together and share notes and spent so many weekends sleeping over each other's houses. We would always try to make chocolate chip cookies, and instead we'd just end up eating the dough. I'm amazed neither of us ever got sick." Annie pulled out her phone and searched the web until she pulled up the class of 2009 reunion page. She waited until they stopped at a red light before handing the phone to Jeff. "Here's a picture of us back then."

Jeff took the phone and looked at the picture. Her hair was much shorter and choppier, and even with makeup covering her face he could tell that she had a pretty bad case of acne; but it was definitely Annie. Despite how much she said she hated how she looked back then, he thought she made herself sound worse then she actually looked (though he admitted he might be a little biased since he thought she was still attractive when she looked like a corpse the time they were on death's door with the flu). She was standing next to a similar heighted girl with long dark hair and cynical looking eyes, which were covered in black framed glasses. "She kind of looks like a young Janeane Garofalo."

"Whatever you do don't say that if you see her," Annie said, taking the phone back as the light turned green. "She always hated being compared to her." She smiled warmly as she looked at the picture. "Heather was the only person who visited me when I was in rehab. My parents didn't even come to see me. But she was there every Saturday, seeing how I was. I was really lucky to have had her in my life."

"So what happened to you two?"

"We lost touch after high school. She got a job in Denver and moved there the summer after she graduated. We e-mailed each other almost every day at first, but after a few months we wrote each other less frequently until eventually we just stopped all together. But I'd love to see her again. I sent her an e-mail asking if she was going to come, but it was sent back saying that e-mail address had been deleted. But hopefully she decided to make it." She grinned as she looked over at Jeff. "If she's not there I'd have no objections to finding a hotel room and skipping out on the whole thing."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"It looks the same from outside," Troy said as the three of them walked into the high school. They walked through the hallways to the gym, where a woman was sitting behind a table just outside. "Hi. I'm Troy Barnes. These are my friends Annie Edison and Jeff Winger. We're here for the reunion."

Without even looking up the woman pulled out a large box of name tags and dropped it on the table. "Go through the box to find your name-." She suddenly paused as she actually looked up. "Oh my god! T-Bone?" She raced over from behind the table as she hugged Troy. "It's me, Raquel. I was on the cheer squad and came up with the homecoming theme, A Night Under The Stars. Remember?"

"Oh yeah. You went out with Brett Fowler?"

"RIGHT!"

"Hey Raquel," Annie said as she stepped forward. "It's Annie Edison. I did cheerleading freshman and sophomore year."

Raquel didn't even look in Annie or Jeff's direction as she continued staring at Troy fondly. "So Brett's here already, along with a lot of the other football players. Let's go see the rest of the gang."

"Great. Let me just get my name tag-."

"Oh don't worry, everyone knows who you are."

"Well let me just wait for my friends-."

"They'll be fine." She waved her hand dismissively as she practically dragged Troy into the gym.

Annie stood there shock still, incredibly offended at being completely ignored like that. "What just happened?"

"She tried to relive her former glory days by acting like a bitch. That's what happened," Jeff said as he rooted through the box. He found Annie's nametag first (Annie Edison: 2009 student) before finally finding his own (Jeff Winger: guest). "Ready?"

"Yeah." She took a deep breath before walking into the gym with Jeff. As they stepped through the entrance she stopped for a moment to take it all in. Although she hadn't gone to her prom, in her mind she imagined it had been decorated similarly to how the gym looked now. The ceiling was covered with balloons. And there were large silver stars with people's names all over the walls. A DJ was set up at a station in the corner, currently playing Rihanna's 'Umbrella' over the sound system.

"Yea, this is going to be a long night," Jeff said to himself. "I'm going to get a drink. You want anything?"

"I'll take a screwdriver if they have orange juice. If they don't I'll have a beer."

"Ok." Before she could even ask Jeff slipped her coat off her. "I'll just hang this up and then go search for some drinks."

Annie smiled softly as Jeff went in search of the drink table. She knew going to someone else's high school reunion wasn't high on Jeff's list of things to do. As it was she really had to twist his arm to get him to attend. But in the end he agreed to come to help support her, even if he didn't want to be here. It meant a lot to her that he was here. She wasn't sure she could do this without him.

She started working her way through the crowd in search of Heather. She saw several people that she recognized, but most of them either looked at her blankly as if they were unable to place her, or gave her a look of pity that clearly showed that they only remembered her from crashing through a plate glass window. As she wormed her way through the crowd a tall man with a blond crew cut bumped into her. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay." As she looked at him she gasped in recognition. "Ricky Sanders?"

"Yeah."

"Annie Edison. We were lab partners in chemistry junior year."

"Annie Edison, Annie Edison…" he repeated her name before his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh! You're that girl who crashed through a window and-." He quickly stopped as he saw the look of embarrassment on Annie's face. "I mean-."

"Hey Sanders! How about we talk about the time you shit your pants during the middle of a soccer game!"

Annie and Ricky both turned around towards the person standing behind them. Annie gasped in delight while Ricky's face paled in embarrassment. "Heather!" Annie gleefully exclaimed.

Heather didn't look at Annie as she took a step towards Ricky, her eyes fully trained on him as he squirmed. "Or how about we bring up some more 'glowing' high school memories of yours. Like what Tabatha's boyfriend did to you after you called her a slut."

"I…I"

"What? You don't like people bringing up these stories? Then why are you doing that to my friend here? She did a lot more than just have an issue with pills. But that's all you seem to remember about her. Though even if that was true, you should have enough class not to mention it."

He stared at Heather uncomfortably before looked over at Annie. "I'm sorry if I offended you." He glanced back at Heather before making his way through the crowd.

As soon as he left Heather smiled smugly at Annie. "What? You don't have a hug for an old friend?"

Annie rushed over and wrapped her arms tightly around her at one-time best friend. "I wasn't sure you'd make it," she said as she pulled away.

"I wasn't sure I was going to come either. But I figured I might as well, on the off chance you showed up."

"AW!"

"Still make the cutesy excited sound I see. Remember when we went to that petting zoo and you kept going 'aw' every three seconds. I thought you were going to want to live there," Heather said.

"What the hell kind of reunion is this?"

Annie and Heather both looked over as Jeff walked over to them. "Heather. This is Jeff Winger, my boyfriend."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Heather said as she shook Jeff's hand.

"Thanks. Annie's told me a lot about you."

"Hopefully only good things and nothing too bad. I'll give you one freebee; in eighth grade I went to a sleepover and when I fell asleep the girls put a bunch of condoms on me and took pictures. Then they posted them on-line and everyone thought I was a huge slut."

Jeff glanced around uncomfortably, not sure what to say. "That…sucks."

"Just saying, if I told that one easily, imagine the stuff I don't want you to know."

"Okay." He nodded his head before looking over at Annie. "Just a heads up, they aren't serving any alcohol here. How do they expect people to get through this thing sober?"

"Not everyone needs to drink here Jeff."

"Well I do. I'm going to make a quick run to the liquor store. You want anything?"

"I'm good. I'll just have a few sips of whatever you get."

"I'll take some Jack Daniel's," Heather said as she dug in her purse for some money.

"Don't worry about it, you're covered," Jeff said. "I'll be back in a bit." He quickly kissed Annie goodbye before setting off.

"It really does seem like I'm back in high school. Having to have an older guy buy me alcohol," Heather said. "I will say good for you. He's definitely gorgeous. Where'd you two meet?"

"We met in Greendale. He started a study group and-."

"Wait? Jeff's THAT Jeff? The guy you said you made out with to win some debate match."

Annie blushed as an impish grin formed on her face. "Yeah."

"Good for you! I remember when you had that stupid crush on Troy Barnes. I kept saying to forget about that jerk, but you kept saying 'he just doesn't know me yet. He'll like me'. But I'd say you moved on to much better men."

Before Annie could defend Troy she felt a sudden familiar chill creep over her. "Well, look who's here." Annie slowly looked over at the speaker of those words: Tiffany Peterson. The woman who made Annie's life a living hell for four straight years. Where coming up with the hurtful phrase 'Little Annie Adderall' was just the worst in a long series of malicious acts she pulled on her. Annie tried to compose herself as she looked into Tiffany's green eyes. The part of her that she didn't like to reveal to others or even herself had secretly hoped Tiffany would have gained weight, or looked haggard and worn out. But if anything she looked even better than she did back in high school. She was still thin, she was still tall, she was still blond, she was still gorgeous.

"Tiffany. How are you?"

"I'm doing great. Great well paying job." She stretched her arms out in front of Annie's face, making a big show of revealing the huge diamond ring on her hand. "Oh that," she said with fake nonchalance. "Just a little something from my husband. He's a doctor. Pulling down six figures a year."

"That's good," Annie said.

"And what about you? You're looking not terrible. I guess once you throw yourself through a window and barf all over the place there's nowhere to go but up."

"Hey, why don't you drop that, all right?" Heather said. "That was a long time ago."

Tiffany looked at Heather, observing her like she was a common insect. "And you are?"

"Not that you care, but my name's Heather Negevre."

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell," Heather smugly said. "It's kind of sad to have never done anything to be remembered. It's almost like you didn't exist. I mean, it's better to be remembered as Little Annie Adderall then to not be remembered at all."

"I see that you haven't changed at all Tiffany. I'll be back in a minute Annie. I just have to get some air." Before Annie could say anything Heather took a step forward before losing her footing and falling into Tiffany.

"Hey! Watch it! This blouse is silk!"

"Oh, what a waste of a good top." Heather scoffed at Tiffany before she walked away, leaving a terrified Annie in the grips of her enemy.

Tiffany took a big gulp of her cup of punch as she nodded her head towards Annie's hands. "Oh, no ring. I guess you came here alone tonight, huh?"

"Actually, _Tiffany_, I came with my boyfriend."

"Oh really? Well where is this mystery guy?"

"He stepped out for a bit to get something to drink."

"Oh please. That's so pathetic." She scoffed as she took another gulp of her drink. "I know you were pathetic in high school. But making up an imaginary boyfriend? That's sad."

"He's not imaginary," Annie said as she pulled out her phone. "Here, let me show you a picture of him." She brought up her pictures until she found one of the two of them together. "Here, look."

Annie waited while Tiffany looked at the picture of Annie smiling widely with Jeff's arm around her. For a moment she had a look of envious shock on her face before she looked back at Annie with gleeful pity. "That's really pathetic, hiring an escort to make yourself look good."

"Ok, that is IT!" Annie yelled. Years of pain came gushing out of her as she started angrily at her former adversary. "I've had it. I honestly don't know what the hell I ever did to you to warrant this kind of treatment. But I don't deserve it. You made my life a living hell, and I hoped that after all this time you might have learned something and felt badly about what you did. But you're still the same mean girl you were back then. And I am not going to-."

Annie suddenly stopped yelling as she looked at Tiffany. Her face appeared green and she looked like she was having trouble standing. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." She wiped the sweat from her face as she stumbled across the room. Annie watched as she leaned against the wall and slowly lowered herself into a sitting position. Someone went over and looked at Tiffany before helping her up and leading her out of the gym.

What was that, Annie wondered?


	2. Chapter 2

"So where's the queen of mean?" Heather asked as she came back over to Annie.

"She wasn't feeling well, so she left."

"Oh, that's too bad," Heather said sarcastically. "I hope it's only something mild, like an alien bursting out of her chest."

Annie nodded vaguely as she looked over to where Tiffany had been led out. It did seem strange that she would go from appearing healthy to being close to collapsing almost instantly. _Maybe she was sick and it suddenly caught up to her_, Annie thought. Though the suddenness of the symptoms seemed similar to something she had once seen at the hospital she interned at. A girl had been brought in with reactions similar to what Tiffany had experienced. And when they treated her they found she had been injected with a fast acting poison.

"Hello?" Annie blinked as Heather waved her hand in front of her. "Earth to Annie."

Annie shook her head as she smiled back at her friend. "Well anyway, how are you? It's been so long since I've heard from you. How's the job in Denver going?"

"I was let go from there two years ago," Heather said bitterly.

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault Annster. Not really my fault either. The place I worked for decided to save money by merging my department with another sales department, and then let anyone go they felt was 'redundant'. Since then I've been working at Panera Bread and at a Denver radio station."

"That's seems pretty cool," Annie said brightly.

"Not really," Heather jadedly responded. "I'm basically just a gofer, getting lunch for people and handing out messages and scripts. It's just like that loan office we both worked at that one summer. The only difference is at least then I knew it would end." She suddenly chuckled as she elbowed Annie. "Hey, remember the time I came to work hung over and kept throwing up in the bathroom? And you covered for me and said I ate a bad sandwich from the food truck? And then no one else wanted to eat anything off the truck?"

"And then the guy came running in and yelled 'my food is good, my food is good. Eat it, eat it'," Annie said, laughing over the memory. "That was so terrible."

"The guy overpriced all his stuff. He deserved to have his business shaken up a little."

"I never wanted that to happen though," Annie said. "I was just trying to cover for you."

"Whatever," Heather said with a casual shrug. Just then her lips curved into a wide smile as 'Love Shack' started playing over the speakers. "Hey! You remember this song?"

"Of course! We sung it every time we played Karaoke Revolution! I'm surprised their playing it though. So far they've only played stuff that was popular when we were in school."

"I gave the DJ twenty bucks to make sure he played it at some point. Come on, let's be seventeen again."

The two women pretended their fists were mics as they sung along to the song. They didn't even care if they looked dorky or if people were staring. As they sung Annie's eyes lit up as she looked at Heather, remembering all the times they sang this song after school or at sleepovers. _This is just like old times_, she happily thought.

"I haven't heard that song in years," Heather said as the song ended. She smiled as she looked at Annie. "I'm glad you came."

"Me to," Annie said. "I've missed you."

"Vote for reunion king and queen!"

Annie and Heather looked over as Raquel suddenly appeared, thrusting a ballet box in their faces. "What?"

"Everyone's voting for the king and queen of the reunion. After the votes are tallied the winners will be announced," Raquel said brightly.

Heather scoffed as she waved her arms emphatically. "You've got to be kidding me. It's bad enough everyone is desperately trying to recapture their high school years. But this is way too much-opps!" Rachel gasped as Heather's arm hit the box and knocked all the votes to the floor.

"What the hell is your problem?" Raquel yelled as she and Heather picked up the voting slips. As they cleaned up the mess Annie thought she saw Heather take something out of her purse and put it in the box. Before she could get a better look they stood up, with Raquel clutching the box tightly to her chest. "You two are just so…" She huffed in annoyance before turning on the spot and leaving.

"Can you believe her?" Heather said as Raquel walked away from them. "Like anyone really cares about some stupid glory recapturing high school title. Stuff like that only matters to the shallowly vapid." She pointed over to a group of former football players and cheerleaders holding court at a table. "Like those people. Look, all the guys are wearing their lettermen jackets. How pathetic is that?"

"Not everyone is wearing one," Annie said as she looked over at Troy (who was the only guy at the table who didn't have a jacket on.)

Heather groaned as she snapped her fingers in Annie's face. "Don't tell me you still have a crush on Troy Barnes. I know you followed him to GCC, but I thought after all this time you'd have a little more common sense. Forget about him and focus on your actual boyfriend."

"Heather, I don't have a crush on Troy. That ended a long time ago."

"Good. Because you're better than he ever was."

"But just so you know, he's not the same guy he was in high school. Now he's kind and sweet and really cares about people."

"Oh please! He's a narcissistic asshole. It would have been so gratifying if Troy Barnes had been Carried at prom."

"I'm serious Heather. He's really changed. Now he's one of my closest friends. I've actually been living with him and our friend Abed for the past three years."

Heather scoffed as she glanced over at Troy. "Do I have to remind you of all the stuff he did to me back then? Like how whenever I gave a speech in our history class he would make fart sounds the entire time. Or when Jake Sapprey was going to ask me out and he didn't because Troy told him 'guys who play sports don't go out with girls with giant asses'. And remember the whole pudding incident? You just didn't realize how mean he was because you were in love with him. He was as bad as Tiffany was. "

"Heather, I know Troy wasn't the nicest guy back then. And you're right; I may not have fully realized it because of my feelings towards him. But I'm telling you, he's not the same guy he once was. If you just give him a chance-."

"I don't want to give him a chance! He made my life hell!" Heather tried to compose herself as people near them looked over at her outburst. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little…where's your boyfriend anyway? I could really use that drink."

"I don't know?" Annie said as she looked around. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"Whatever. I might have an old six pack of something stashed in my car. I'll just go check."

Annie watched Heather as her friend left the gym. She knew Heather had it bad in high school, but it made her uncomfortable to hear the way she talked, like they were still there. True she hated it back then too, but it was five years ago, and she wasn't going to let that terrible time dictate how she lived the rest of her life.

"Ann Edison?"

She gasped in surprise when she saw who had approached her: Russ Fisher. Former Riverside linebacker and Tiffany Peterson's high school boyfriend. Even within the popular crowd the two of them had practically been royalty, ruling the school like it was their own corrupt kingdom. While Tiffany had been the one to pick on her and other girls, Russ made it his mission to torment every guy he deemed a wuss (which included most of the male population).

Annie looked right into the eyes of the mammoth man as she fought to keep her apprehension hidden. "That's me."

"That's good. You look so pretty I wasn't sure if you were…you look good."

"Thanks," she said coolly. "You look about the same. Have you seen Tiffany?"

"Um…no. I'm not really interested in seeing her. Listen, The reason I came over is…I've done a lot of thinking since graduation. And I wasn't the nicest guy back then. And I know people can still be hurt by what I did, even if it's been a while. So I wanted to say I'm sorry to everyone I was mean to. Which was probably pretty much everyone. So, I'm sorry for how I was back then."

Annie stared at him in shock at what she heard. This was the last thing she ever expected to hear from Russ Fisher. "Thank you."

He smiled nervously before his eyes grew serious. "I, um, I just wanted to tell you…I remember everything people said when they found out about your pill thing…and…when I was playing for Michigan State there was one player who was caught using steroids. And, he was a real good guy who I never would have thought would use that stuff. And it made me realize that anyone can end up using that stuff. So, I just wanted to say, you shouldn't have been made fun of for your problem back then."

Though it wasn't the most articulated way of phrasing it, Annie got the gist of what he meant. Her eyes teared up as she touched his arm. "Thank you Russ. That means a lot."

"You're welcome Ann."

Annie looked over as Jeff made his way over to them, carrying two cups of punch. "Jeff, you're back. This is Russ. Russ, this is my boyfriend Jeff."

"Nice to meet you Jeff," Russ said as he nodded at Jeff. "Well, I don't want to take up all of your time. It was good seeing you Ann."

"Who was that guy?" Jeff asked as Russ made his way through the crowd and walked out of the gym.

"Just someone I once knew. Or someone I'm just getting to know in a way," she said as she took the second punch cup from Jeff. She watched as Jeff took a couple of vodka nips out of his jacket and poured one in his cup before handing the other to Annie. "Thanks." She added the liquor to her cup and took a sip. "Not bad."

"I got a few Jack Daniels nips for Heather. Where'd she go?"

"She said she was going to her car to get some beer."

"You two catching up?" he asked as he took a drink.

"Yeah. It's just…" She paused as she tried to voice what she was thinking. "I don't know. She just seems so much bitterer than I remember her. She was always more cynical then I was, but now it's harsher. It makes Britta seem perky."

"That is bad," Jeff said with a grin.

"And she keeps acting like we're still in high school and should obsess over what happened back then. It's not healthy to keep being angry over all of that."

Just then they heard a loud yell out in the hallway, followed by the sound of something large falling. A bunch of people ran out to see what had happened. As Annie and Jeff made their way through the crowd they saw Russ lying at the bottom of a flight of stairs. People ran down to see how he was as he shakily got to his feet. "I'm all right everyone."

"What happened!" someone yelled.

"I don't know. I was walking past the stairs and something hit me. I think someone bumped into me. That, or possibly pushed me."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"You okay?" Jeff asked. "You seem pretty quiet."

"I'm fine." Annie rested her head against Jeff's chest as they swayed to the music. She wanted to just be able to have a good time. But an uneasy feeling kept prickling over her. While most people had just dismissed what had happened to Russ, she had a feeling it wasn't an accident. She couldn't even place why she thought that. But her intuition told her he didn't just fall accidentally.

_Who would want to hurt Russ?_, she thought. Well, if she was truthful, most of the student body. He had picked on enough people that any number of them might want to get revenge. But that was a long time ago. Someone would have to be really angry to try and hurt him five years after the fact. But who would hold a grudge for that…

Annie's eyes widened as a terrible thought came over her. There was someone here who was especially bitter over what had happened to them in high school. But she wouldn't actually try to hurt someone, would she? Even after everything that happened to her, that would be extreme. And Russ never really did anything to her. Tiffany and Troy were the ones who mostly picked on Heather. So if anything they would be the ones…

Annie pulled away from Jeff suddenly. He looked down at her, growing concerned at the look on her face. "What?"

"Nothing. Just stay here Jeff. I'm going to try and find Heather." She started walking away when she suddenly turned back around. "Jeff, do me a favor and keep an eye on Troy for me until I get back."

"What's going on?"

"Maybe nothing. Just…watch him. Make sure he doesn't go off any place by himself." Annie quickly scurried off as she tried to find Heather. She left the gym and started walking down the hallway when she saw Heather come in from outside. "Heather."

"Annie. What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you." She took hold of her arm and led her a little ways away. "Where have you been?"

"I told you, I was getting some beer from my car."

Annie glanced down at Heather's empty arms. "Where is it?"

"I couldn't find it. I looked everywhere, but it wasn't there. I must have drank it already and forgot."

"You've been in your car this whole time?"

"Yeah. It's pretty messy, so it took a while to look through it." She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Annie. "What's going on?"

"Do you remember Russ Fisher?"

"Yeah. He was the jerk who went out with Tiffany."

"Well, he fell down the stairs before. He's all right, but he could have really hurt himself."

"Okay," Heather said slowly.

"He thinks someone might have pushed him," Annie said slowly and deliberately.

Heather gasped as she looked at Annie. "Wait, you think I did that?"

"I just…you've been complaining about everyone here all night. And you were gone when it happened-."

"Oh, I don't believe…because I make a few snide comments you think I'm some kind of a psycho?"

"Heather-."

"NO! This is exactly what it was like back in high school. Something happens to one of the popular ones and the outcast is the one to be blamed. I never thought you would become one of them."

"Heather," Annie weakly said. She tried taking hold of her hand but Heather jerked it away angrily.

"I only came to this stupid thing to see you. But now I see you're just like them. Well have fun with your new 'friends'. Enjoy yourself with Troy Barnes and all the others." With that she turned on her heels and marched away, leaving Annie standing alone and deeply upset.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff immediately knew something was wrong when Annie came back over to him. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was sniffing like she had a cold. "What's wrong?"

Annie wiped her eyes as she told Jeff what had happened. "I should never of accused her of…I'm a terrible person."

"Annie, you're an amazing person. And I'm sorry, but if this was a case the evidence would be stacked against her. She mysteriously disappears when Russ fell, and she's repeatedly said how much she hates most of the people here. She can't be surprised if it makes her look guilty."

"I want to leave Jeff. I don't want to be here anymore."

"Okay. I'll just get your coat and then we can leave." He gently kissed her before setting off. Annie composed herself as she looked for Troy to tell him they were leaving. She frowned when she saw that he wasn't at the table with the football players and cheerleaders. She looked around until she saw him sitting on the wooden bleachers, reminding her of herself whenever she used to attend high school dances.

Troy looked up in surprise as Annie sat down next to him. "Hey."

"Hey." She glanced back over at the 'popular table' before looking over at Troy. "How come you're sitting here instead of catching up with your friends?"

Troy was quiet for a few moments before he turned his head towards her. "I don't know. It's hard to explain. But, it's not the same. I mean, I know they're the same people. But everything's off. They keep talking about all the things we used to do, and I used to remember it as being fun. But now that I'm hearing it out loud and not in my head, it's doesn't sound fun anymore. It sounds stupid and mean."

Annie nodded as she mulled over what she just heard. "Maybe, it's because you're not the same person you once were and they still are, so you see them differently then you once did."

Troy nodded his head as he looked back at the table. "After some of the stuff they said, I don't think I was the nicest guy back then."

_I know others who would agree_, Annie thought as she remembered all the things Heather said Troy did to her. She was just about to tell him she was leaving when something she had wondered about before popped into her head. "What does Carrie someone mean?"

"It means pull a humiliating prank on someone, like in Carrie when she was on stage and they poured pigs blood all over her," Troy said. "You never saw Carrie?"

"No."

"Oh man, it's so cool. Abed has it, we should watch it tomorrow. Oh! We can make it a marathon. We can watch Carrie, and then Prom Night, and-."

"Your attention please!" Troy and Annie looked over as Raquel stood on stage holding a microphone. "Thank you. We have tallied the votes and it's time to announce the reunion king and queen. But first, a brief history of this prestigious title, which I came up with personally."

Annie groaned as Raquel droned on and on. "This whole thing is just another popularity contest. No one who deserves it will win."

"I voted for you."

"What?" Annie said as she looked over at Troy in confusion.

"I voted for you to win reunion queen. I thought about who really deserved it, and you were the person I felt should win."

"Troy!"

She moved in to hug him when they heard Raquel suddenly yell out, "And now, this year's reunion king and queen are, TROY BARNES AND TIFFANY PETERSON!"

As everyone cheered Annie quickly hugged Troy before pushing him off the bleacher. "Go on, get up there!" Annie clapped as Troy made his way through the applauding crowd. But then she slowly stopped clapping as she thought about what Troy has said about the movie Carrie. How she had a prank pulled on her when she was up on stage. As Annie thought about that she gasped as what had happened earlier with Heather ran through her head.

"_It would have been so gratifying if Troy Barnes had been Carried at prom." _

_Heather taking something out of her purse and putting it in the ballet box. _

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" Annie yelled. She pushed her way through the crowd as Rachel placed a crown on top of Troy's head.

"Now I will admit I was fully expecting Tiffany and Russ to be back up here. But our one time star quarter back winning is nothing to complain about." Rachel mugged to the crowd as the audience cheered for Troy. "Now unfortunately Tiffany came down with something and had to leave early. So I will be accepting her award on her behalf." She put a tiara on her head as she pointed gleefully to it. "Thank you. I just want to say…"

"Move it!" Annie yelled as she fought through the crowd. As she reached the stage she looked up and saw two large buckets balanced on the rafters, each of them attached to a length of rope. As the rope pulled the buckets over Annie jumped on stage and tackled Troy to the ground as two showers of yellow paint and feathers rained down onto the stage.

Annie looked at herself to see what the damage was. Her shoes were covered in paint and feathers and she had some splotches on her left calf, but otherwise she was fine. She pulled herself off Troy as she inspected him. Aside from a few small specks he didn't have any on him. "You ok?"

"Yea, I'm good." Surprisingly he seemed more ecstatic then upset. "That was so cool! We were just talking about Carrie and then someone tries to pull a Carrie prank. I wish Abed was here, he would have loved it."

They suddenly looked over as they heard a frantic yell. Raquel was completely covered in yellow paint and feathers. As she stared out into the crowd a couple chuckles were heard. "SHUT UP! MY DRESS IS RUINED! SHUT UP!" she shrilly yelled as she stamped her foot.

More people started laughing, more from her reaction than the actual incident. "SHUT UP! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT!" She wiped a handful of paint and feathers off her body and threw it into the crowd.

As everyone was focused on Raquel, Annie looked backstage, where she saw someone run off. She ignored Troy's yells as she took off like a bat out of hell. She ran after them until she caught up to the assailant, who was about to run out the emergency exit. "Stop right there!" Annie waited as the culprit slowly turned around and revealed themselves.


	3. Chapter 3

Annie sighed deeply as the person slowly turned around, revealing herself to be Heather. While she wasn't surprised that the assailant was her, it still stung to be proven right. "What the hell was that? You tried to dump paint on Troy and Raquel. Are you insane?"

"I was trying to get Troy. Raquel was just an added bonus."

"Why the hell would you even do that?"

Heather looked at Annie as if she were a simpleton. "Do you even have to ask Annie? He deserves to be punished after all the crap he put me through. Him and Tiffany and all the others who humiliated me and everyone."

Annie's eyes widened as the full realization of what had happened tonight hit her. "It was you, wasn't it? You did something to make Tiffany sick."

Heather shrugged nonchalantly as Annie glared at her. "Yeah, I slipped a little something in her drink. It was just suppose to make her a little loopy. I didn't know it'd make her sick."

"Do you know how dangerous that was? She could have gotten really sick or hurt. Why would you do that?"

Heather scoffed in disbelief at Annie's question. "I did it because she's a self centered bitch who had it coming. She once put laxatives in my soda just before gym class. Do you remember how humiliating that was? And she hasn't changed at all! I watched you two just before she got sick. Even after all this time she still has to humiliate you. She deserved to have some humiliation thrown back at her for once."

Annie took a deep breath to give herself a moment before continuing. "Heather, yes, Tiffany is a self centered bitch and will probably always be one. But what you did still wasn't right. She could have died."

"Oh please," Heather said as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious Heather. You don't know how someone's body will react to something. You thought she would just act silly and instead she got sick. Something worse could have happened."

"Oh god Annie, it was just a prank that didn't go exactly as planned. She wasn't in any real danger."

"Well what about Russ? He could have broken his neck falling down those stairs."

Annie nervously held her ground as Heather glared nastily at her. "I _told you_, I didn't push…" She groaned in frustration, tightly gritting her teeth. "Fine, okay? I pushed him. I didn't plan on doing it. But when I saw him walking past those stairs I couldn't help myself. The guy picked on half the student body. He deserved it."

Annie's eyes widened as she stared at Heather. She felt her face grow hot from the rage that was coursing through her. "You looked me in the eye and said you didn't do it. You made me feel terrible for accusing you, and you were lying the whole time!"

"Annie…" Heather's mouth opened as she struggled to say something redeeming. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you. But things were going so well between us, and I was afraid if you knew you'd get mad at me and never want to see me again."

"And you think lying to me was better? That just makes this worse!" She shook her head disbelievingly as her former friend. "You're as bad as they were."

"Oh no I'm not!" Heather cried hysterically.

"Yes you are. You're obsessed with being a bully and humiliating others."

"They were bullies fir-."

"And what you don't realize," Annie yelled as she cut Heather off. "Is that the people you're targeting aren't even the same people they once were! Russ apologized to me and said he feels terrible about how he treated everyone in high school. And Troy is an amazing person and a great friend."

Heather smiled grimly at Annie, feeling it was time to play the trump card she hoped she wouldn't have to use. "Well let me tell you this. If Troy Barnes is really so amazing, then how could he have come up with the nickname 'Little Annie Adderall'."

Annie deeply frowned in disbelief over that one. "You're really so desperate to convince me you're right that you'll try and rewrite history? Tiffany Peterson came up with that horrible nickname. She constantly bragged at how 'clever' it was."

"No Annster," Heather said softly. "Heather _didn't_ come up with that nickname. Troy Barnes did. They were standing right behind me when you were being treated by paramedics after crashing through that window. After they saw the pills Tiffany said 'So little goody two shoes Annie is a pill head'. And then Troy said 'Yea, she's Little Annie Adderall'. And after she heard it Tiffany spread it all around the school and took full credit for it. But that nickname would _never_ have been invented if not for Troy Barnes. So think about how _perfect_ he really is if he came up with such a humiliating nickname for you."

Annie stood there in shock as Heather's words washed over her. She desperately wanted her to be lying. But after witnessing all the lying she had done earlier, Annie was now able to tell when she wasn't being truthful, and it pained her to realize that Heather was being truthful here.

Rage filled Annie at the realization that Troy had been the one to come up with that terrible nickname. She wanted revenge. She wanted to pour paint on him, and pants him, and draw penises on his face, and have everyone point and laugh while he cried in humiliation.

But as that image passed through her mind, other actual Troy memories came to her. Like how he had been willing to give up his bedroom so she could have one when she first moved in. That he gave up partying on his 21st birthday to make sure everyone got home safely, and then how he made her feel better about herself when she was having an identity crisis. How he was willing to make Britta forget about Blade even if it was at his own expense. That he was willing to become an air conditioning repair student if it meant saving Greendale and having them all become students again.

As much that it sucked to find out that Troy was the one who came up with that nickname, the truth was she couldn't really seek revenge on him for it, because that person no longer existed. He was no longer the jerk who went around making fun of others. He had grown up and became a better person, and tonight proved that he regretted how he used to act in high school. It wouldn't be fair to try and humiliate a person who no longer existed.

"Come on, Annie," Heather said hopefully. "We can still get him back for everything he did to us."

Annie swallowed down her emotions as she looked at Heather's smiling face. "Heather, I don't know if I can ever get you to believe this, but Troy is _not_ the same person who humiliated us in high school. He's a good person now, and it wouldn't be right to get back at him now. Please, you have to let it go."

The smile left Heather's face as she yelled in frustration. "I don't get you!" she cried in disbelief. "We were both picked on mercilessly. You had it even worse than I did, and you still can act chipper and positive after everything. How the hell is it so easy for you to just let it go?"

"You think it's easy Heather?" Annie said in a low, serious voice. "You think it's simple being cheerful and positive after everything I've been through? It's not. God, there have been so many times I've wanted to just give up and be like you. It's easy to be jaded and cynical and vindictive against the world because of the shit hand you've been dealt with. But I believe that you can't find real happiness if you're miserable, so I forced myself to be positive and to see the bright side of things, even if I didn't truly believe it.

"And you know what, Heather? Eventually it came true." She nodded her head as a true smile came over her. "I was able to actually be happy instead of just pretending to be. And from there I was able to gain so much. I was able to find self worth and confidence. I gained friends who are family, and an amazing boyfriend who truly loves and appreciates me. And even when things don't go my way, I'm able to handle it and make the best out of a bad situation."

"Well that's great," Heather said sarcastically. "You've risen up from all the crap you dealt with in high school. Good for you." Her voice dripped with contempt as she blinked her eyes in frustration. "You think I haven't tried to do that? I've tried to get over it, but I can't. No matter what I do I'm haunted by everything that happened back then."

As Annie looked at Heather's crumpling face she was filled with sadness. She had looked up to Heather in high school and admired her for being confrontational instead of meek like she was. But now she looked at her and saw a scarred and scared woman who was unwilling or unable to allow herself to heal.

"Heather, I'm sorry. I wish you were able to let go of all this pain you have inside of you. And, I don't know. Maybe if we hadn't lost touch you wouldn't have ended up like this."

Heather gave Annie a small crooked smile as she sadly chuckled. "I probably wouldn't have listened to you anyway. I always make fun of the bubbly happy ones."

Annie smiled before her face again grew serious. "Heather, I truly am sorry that you're in this much pain. But I will _not_ just stand by and allow you to hurt people here, no matter how much you think they deserve it."

Heather stood still as she looked into Annie's eyes, seeing a fire that hadn't been there during their high school days. "So what are you going to do? Call the police and turn me in? Rat me out to everyone in there?"

Annie was silent for a few moments before she responded. "Heather, you stood by me in high school when no one else did, and that includes my parents. You used to be my best friend, and I would have done anything for you back then. So no, I'm not going to turn you in or reveal what you've done. _However_," she emphasized dramatically, "you're going to leave here right now. And if I _ever_ find out you've gone after Troy or anyone we went to high school with, I will do something about it, regardless of how close we once were."

Heather nodded her head grimly, not wanting to test the get out of jail free card Annie had thrown at her. "All right." She walked down the hallway before stopping in front of the door. "Just so you know, I wasn't lying before. I did miss you," she said without turning around. Without another word Heather pushed the door open and walked outside.

Annie shivered as she heard the loud shutter of the closed door vibrate through her. She knew that she and Heather would never be friends again. Even if they did physically meet again, it wouldn't be the same as it once was. The girl she was once so close to was now gone. And she herself was no longer the same person Heather had once known. The two girls who had once been so close had been replaced by different versions of themselves, and those different versions no longer fit in each other's lives.

Annie waited a few more moments before walking back inside the gym. She made her way through the crowds until she saw Jeff and Troy, who came right over to her. "Are you ok?" What happened?" Jeff asked.

"I'm fine." She shared a brief look with Jeff before turning her attention to Troy. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" Before he could respond Annie took Troy by the hand and led him out onto the dance floor. "Troy, I have to ask you something." She waited a moment as she worked out how to best go about this. "Someone tonight told me you were the one who came up with the nickname 'Little Annie Adderall' in high school. Is that true?"

Troy's eyes widened as he took that in. "What? No, I-." He paused as he looked into her eyes, seeing that no matter what he said she already knew the truth about his insensitive stupidity. He swallowed down the lump in his throat as he forced himself to admit his shameful secret out loud. "I didn't mean…it was something stupid I said to get a laugh," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I wasn't thinking and it just came out of me. Then Tiffany took credit for it and spread it around and it was just easier to let everyone think she came up with it. Then we got to know each other in Greendale and I just kind of blocked out that I was the one that caused people to make fun of you for your pill problem." He lowered his head, finding it hard to look at her at the moment. "I'm really sorry Annie. I shouldn't have made fun of you for what you were going through."

"Thank you for telling me the truth and not lying about it." Annie blinked back the tears that were forming as she took hold of Troy's hands. "I forgive you and accept your apology." She waited until he looked back up at her before continuing. "Yes, what you did was _incredibly _hurtful and mean. But you're not the same guy you were back then. You're sensitive and kind and you feel terrible when you hurt someone's feelings. It wouldn't make sense to be mad at you for what you did back then, because that guy no longer exists. And the Troy who is here, he's someone I like a lot."

"Thanks Annie. You're a really good person," Troy said with a smile. She returned his smile as she hugged him, feeling like she had just released a giant weight. It felt good to let go of her anger, rather than keep it in and let it grow and fester.

Troy glanced up at the wall clock as he let go of Annie, seeing that the reunion would be ending soon. "I think I'm going to go and see if Britta wants to watch a movie or something. I'll see you guys tomorrow." He took the crown off his head and put it on top of Annie's head. "I still think you should have won. It's not a tiara, but it still makes you royalty." Before she could say anything he walked over to Jeff and whispered something in his ear before quickly and quietly slipping out of the gym, noticed only by the ones who truly cared about him.

Jeff walked over to Annie and held his hand out to her. "Mind if I cut in?" He groaned as Annie looked at him in bewilderment. "Troy told me to say that to you, even though you're not dancing with anyone."

"That was sweet. Just let him have this one Jeff."

He shrugged as he put his arms around Annie and fingered the crown. "Nice look."

"Shut up. It was a sweet gesture." She took the crown off and looked at it before pulling Jeff down slightly so she could put it on his head. "There, my prince."

"You're lucky I love you Annie. This thing is now hiding my hair on a particularly good day." He grinned back at her before his face grew more serious. "So you want to tell me what happened with Heather and the Carrie like stunt?"

Annie's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Jeff. She started to ask him how he knew it was her before she realized it wouldn't have been that hard for him to figure it out. Instead she explained to him everything that had happened. Jeff was silent as he listened to her, not saying anything until after she was finished.

"Wow," he eventually said, for lack of a better phrase.

"I know." She hung her head a little as a stab of fear penetrated her. "And the thing is, I realized I could have become just like her."

Jeff placed his fingers under her chin and gently raised her head until she was looked up at him. "No Annie, you could never become like that."

"Jeff, you didn't know me before I came to Greendale. I was picked on just as much as Heather was. I had it even worse than she did. She didn't have divorced parents, or a mother who only liked her if she was the best, or an out of control pill addiction from trying to be the best. If I didn't make a conscious effort after rehab to be happy and see the best in things, even when I didn't truly believe it, I could have very well become like Heather: a bitter unhappy person who only cares about getting back at the world."

Jeff nodded his head as he looked at her with a bit of sadness in his eyes. "I just didn't realize that your…" He paused as he tried to properly phrase what he wanted to say. "That your being you was just an act."

To his surprise Annie actually smiled instead of getting angry. "It wasn't an act for very long. It really only lasted the summer before I started at Greendale and a month or so once I started. After that it became real instead of a script I was following. And I remember exactly when that started."

"Oh yeah? What changed you?"

Her smile grew even wider as she looked at her boyfriend. "You."

"Wait, what? How did I do that?"

"It was actually two things that did it. The first was when we went to see Troy's first pep rally after being terrified by the human being. You held your arm out for me to take and you weren't ashamed to be seen with me."

"Annie, it was a community college pep rally. It wasn't that big a deal."

Annie scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "I know that now, Jeff. But at the time it was huge to me. At pep rallies in high school I was either ignored or made fun of. So it meant a lot to me what you did, even if you didn't see it that way."

At that Jeff simply smiled and nodded his head, unwilling to take something away from her that meant so much. "Okay. What was the second thing I did?"

"The second time was at the Dia de los Muertos party, when you danced with me after Abed saved you and Pierce from that chair fort. You spun me in your arms and I started laughing and I realized it wasn't fake laughter. I was truly happy at that moment. And after that, I was able to stop acting and actually start being happy." She reached up to cup his cheek with her hand. "You've done a lot for me Jeff. You helped me become a whole person, even when you weren't trying. I can't thank you enough for that."

"Well, I could always use something from The Gap if you're looking for ideas. That should probably make us even," Jeff joked. Annie giggled, finding it comforting that Jeff would joke during a moment like this rather then annoying. He kissed her before pulling back to look into her eyes, his own full of deep affection for the woman in front of him. "You know you're not the only one who wasn't a whole person when they started at Greendale. I came in there just wanting to remain the same selfish guy I had always been. And because of you and the study group, I was able to grow and change into someone the old me would have laughed at. So, thank you for all of that."

Annie smiled softly and leaned into Jeff as she felt him wrap his arms around her, making her feel safe and comforted. As she rested her head against his chest she looked around at everyone in the gym. While she didn't get exactly what she had set out to gain when she walked into the reunion, she had ended the night with a simple realization: some people, like Heather, would spend their lives being defined by the ghosts of their past, while others, like herself, Troy and Jeff, would rise up from the pain they had once endured to become well rounded and better versions of who they once were. It felt good to know that she was in the latter of that spectrum.


End file.
